Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

"Mr. Qiao."

Xu Zhubu called him and replied, "This is Mr. Shen from Tong'an County. We two have come to bother you today because we have something to ask of you."

After hearing this, Old Qiao looked at Shen Zheng curiously and asked, "Are you a girl and an official?"

He turned around and asked Xu Zhubu: "What kind of official is this girl?"

Xu Zhubu secretly gave Shen Zheng a helpless look and replied, "Lord Shen is the magistrate of Tongan County."

"Wow!" Old Qiao exclaimed, "The county magistrate is a high-ranking official!"

Shen Zheng was amused by his reaction: "They all say that the county magistrate is a small official, but you are the only one who says that I am a big official."

"Hmm!" Old Qiao blew his beard and continued:

"I am an old man and I am confined to my own little piece of land. You are the most powerful official I have ever seen."

After he finished speaking, he asked Shen Zheng and the others to sit down first, and then he opened the pastries they had brought.

"Oh, it's Guanchunzhai's dim sum, not bad, it suits the old man's appetite."

He stuffed a piece of mung bean cake into his mouth, chewing it and saying, "Tell me, why are you looking for the old man?"

Shen Zheng unpacked the other two flavors of pastries for him and placed them on the table, then took out the wooden box containing the drawings.

"I have a blueprint of a textile machine and would like to ask you to help me make it," she said.

When Mr. Qiao heard that they really wanted him to make tools, and the tool was just a textile loom, a look of boredom appeared on his face.

He sighed and said, "I wouldn't have made this kind of thing, but it's because you, the little girl, were brought here by the Xu family kid."

After saying this, he glanced at the cakes on the table again, as if he was annoyed at his own greed:

"I ate the snacks you bought, too. Sigh, I'm not going to say anything. Bring me the blueprints."

Shen Zheng knew that she was relying on Master Xu's favor today, otherwise, with Old Man Qiao's habit, he would not just open the snacks and eat them.

In fact, he had no intention of rejecting the two of them from the beginning.

Shen Zheng carefully took the drawing out of the box, unfolded it and placed it on the table.

"Mr. Qiao, take a look. This loom may be a little different from what you know."

Mr. Qiao originally wanted to get started, but then he raised his hand to look at the snack crumbs on his hand and chose to wipe his hands on his clothes before picking up the drawing.

He thought to himself that small gadgets like textile machines are all pretty much the same, and what the girl said was a little different was probably just an exaggeration, the style of the tool was just different.

He has been making tools for more than ten years and has seen all kinds of styles.

He picked up the blueprint with a relaxed look, but frowned when he saw several more blueprints underneath.

"It's just a loom, why are there so many drawings? Did you draw it yourself, little girl?"

Shen Zheng only had a vague understanding of these tools and didn't know the specific functions of those drawings.

She shook her head honestly: "I didn't draw it. It was given to me by a hermit."

If we are to locate the system, the hermit master can be right, right?

When facing Mr. Qiao, she could make up stories without any pressure, after all, Master Xu would not betray her.

Xu Zhubu, who was standing by, smiled helplessly when he saw her making up a master without changing her expression.

When Mr. Qiao heard the words "hermit master", he immediately became interested in the drawings in his hand.

He began to look at the textile machine drawings carefully, and he was stunned when he saw the first one.

"What! Can you do this?" Old Qiao exclaimed.

He gently placed the blueprint on the table, his face full of shock and curiosity: "Little girl, tell me, what is this loom used for?"

"Of course I'm weaving." Shen Zheng knew that this was not what he was asking, but she still had a bad intention to tease him.

When Old Qiao heard this, he immediately blew his beard and glared: "Of course I know it's used for weaving cloth! What kind of cloth is it used for weaving!"

Shen Zheng pretended to be in deep thought, and after a moment she answered: "Silk, satin, linen, cotton and...cotton?"

"I knew it, old man!"

After hearing what she said, Mr. Qiao immediately slapped his thigh and said, "What a loom that can make cotton cloth!"

It's not like he hadn't tried it before, but today the person in front of him actually took out the blueprints. He felt like he had found a treasure!

Then he picked up the blueprint and started looking at it, looking so serious as if he wanted to eat it up.

He spent a long time looking at the first drawing, but as he was old, he couldn't see some of the details clearly and was scratching his head in anxiety.

He handed the blueprint to Shen Zheng, pointed at one spot and asked, "Girl, how is this connected?"

This really got Shen Zheng thinking, but she didn't feel embarrassed and just told the truth:

"I don't quite understand this drawing either. Why don't you take a look at the next few drawings? There should be detailed drawings."

"Oh yes, yes!"

Mr. Qiao then remembered that there were several more drawings below, which he had forgotten in his excitement just now.

He looked at the following drawings carefully with a thirst for knowledge, nodding, showing surprise, and muttering: So that's it.

Seeing that he was so engrossed in watching, Shen Zheng and Xu Zhubu sat quietly by the side to avoid disturbing him.

"Master, it's time to eat!"

At this time, the young man's voice came from the kitchen. Shen Zheng looked up and saw that the sun was high in the sky and the sunlight was dazzling. It was almost noon.

Mr. Qiao was immersed in the drawings in front of him and seemed not to hear what the boy said.

Shen Zheng winked at Xu Zhubu and asked quietly, "Shall we eat?"

Xu Zhubu also replied in a low voice: "Are you hungry, sir?"

Shen Zheng touched her stomach. She had eaten too much in the morning, so she wasn't really hungry now.

She shook her head at Xu Zhubu.

Seeing that she was not hungry, Xu Zhubu stopped talking and looked at Mr. Qiao quietly.

"call."

At this time, Mr. Qiao finished looking at the last drawing and let out a long sigh, the excitement on his face had not yet faded.

"Good, good, that's great!" he sighed repeatedly.

He placed the drawing in his hand on the table with great care, then picked up the box and pressed it on top to prevent the drawing from being blown away by the wind.

Then he turned around and asked Shen Zheng: "Girl, do you know what this loom means?"

Shen Zheng nodded. She knew that once the Hualou textile machine was made, it would represent an industrial revolution in the textile industry of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

She replied: "The price of cotton is low, and I think the people of Da Zhou can wear cheap and comfortable cotton clothes."

Upon hearing this, Old Qiao looked at her deeply. He thought that this girl would use this textile machine to make a lot of money.

Who knew that he had such a mean mind? He smiled and sighed:

"The people of Tong'an County are blessed to have you as an official! Unfortunately, I am an old man from Liuyang Prefecture, alas!"

Shen Zheng joked, "If you don't mind, I'll transfer your household registration when I get promoted in the future, okay?"

When Old Qiao heard this, he glared and said, "Go away, you are old, why are you moving?"

At this time, the young man came over.

He asked with some dissatisfaction: "Master, do you still want to eat?"

Only then did Mr. Qiao realize that it was already noon. He was so engrossed in watching that he thought only half an hour had passed.

He invited Shen Zheng and the other two: "You two can have dinner with us. Can we talk about it after dinner?"

Shen Zheng had no reason to be polite, so she nodded and followed Mr. Qiao and the others to the kitchen.